TENNIS balls that have survived being thrashed around by the world’s best players at this year's Wimbledon Championships are being sent off to help in a very different survival bid.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club contacted Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT) to offer the used balls as an alternative home for the threatened harvest mouse.

With numbers thought to be declining in Surrey, and their habitat being reduced, the mice have been put on the Biodiversity Action Plan List for threatened species.

A total of 150 balls will recover from being hit by the likes of Andy Murray and East Horsley's own Chris Eaton by housing the mice at sites in Surrey.

They include Thundry Meadows near Elstead, Papercourt Marshes near Send, and Brentmoor Heath around West End and Bisley.

Traditionally, spherical nests are built by the animals at the top of long dense stalks, such as brambles, in their natural habitat of rough grassland, where they find food such as seeds, berries and insects.

As these habitats are now under threat, it is thought the mice could be preserved by providing them with a ready-made home.

Dave Williams, mammal project manager at SWT, said: "After modifying the balls to make them a bit more mouse-friendly - that is drilling a front door in each of them and mounting them on stakes - they were soon ready for any homeless harvest mouse to take vacant possession."

"The mice nest throughout the summer and will hopefully find the tennis balls an attractive home. We’ll monitor activity and clean out those which have been used and vacated at the end of the season, ready for next year."